iTunes Gift Card scams are still being used

iTunes Gift Card scams are still being used

Last month I heard from one of my readers about a scam he’d fallen for. Apparently, he’d been tricked into paying for something using an iTunes gift card. The lesson cost him $600—a stiff price to pay for letting his guard down for a few minutes.

iTunes gift cards have limited usage

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported on this scam in May 2016. At the time, they specifically mentioned scams involving iTunes cards being used to pay for back taxes or to transfer money to another person online. The problem is that iTunes cards cannot be used for these purposes.

According to Apple, “iTunes Gift Cards are solely for the purchase of goods and services on the iTunes Store and App Store. Should you receive a request for payment using iTunes Gift Cards outside of iTunes and the App Store please report it at ftc.gov/complaint.”

How the scam works

Just like other scams involving Amazon gift cards, PayPal or MoneyPak, the scammers ask you to buy a card and then give them the security code. For an iTunes card this is a 16-character code on the card. Once the scammer has the code, the money can be taken at any time and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.

About Terry

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don’t know, that’s the guy who finds the people who don’t want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job.

Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I have had a guy name Watkins 122 on Instagram keep asking me for amazon cards, iTunes cards and he had me buy him three of them. Then wanted to place money in my account claiming to pay me back and wanted me to take $500 to buy him more. Now through this article I know I have been scammed. He has gotten access to my account, my address, my phone # ,and my social . How do I report this.

i been scram by a Mr. David Camp:Mr. David Camp text me saying my app. I file was approved for 2,500 loan at Dream Financials LLC..he send me the promissory note by my email to sign..and he said in order to finishes the progress i had to pay $215 so i did he said by app store & ITunes card then he called me told me I need PPI inc. to complete the file i have to pay for the inc of $400.00 to get this money he said if you pay that i will increase your loan to 10,000 and i paid it..the same way..then he said wait 20-30 min we will transfer the funds to your acc#…i waited at Wal Mart ..he called back and said one of the card didn’t work.. so i went to exchanged the card in wal mart the lady told me they do not exchanged them i have to contact ITunes or Apple store and i did..the Man at the ITune store said the card was used as a fraud i told him i have 6 more he stated give me the numbers and let me check all was used as a fraud to get money..the man Mr. Camp still contacting my phone…about the $100.. which he got all my money $615.00..as of today he still texting and call my phone.i has him for my money back..he stating understand me..i said yes you ripping off disability people.. and also he gave me another company they using for inc name American Affordable insurance..

Gift cards include a code that is used to activate them. There’s usually a tab that covers the code when the cards are made, but scammers sometimes remove the tab and activate the card. I’ve never purchased an i-Tunes card, but it should work the same way. To ensure that you’re getting a good card, always check the back of a gift card to be sure there’s no code showing before you make the purchase. I’d go back to Walmart and complain.

This scam also uses dating sites and cheating sites. My husband recently subscribed to two sites that I know of. Ashley Madison.com and well hello. They enticed him with women and then had him buy both iTunes and Amazon cards. They then had him take a picture of the backs of the cards and receipts and text the pictures to them, then they instructed him to tear up the cards and send pictures of the torn up cards. My husband got what he deserved…he lost hundreds of dollars and probably his marriage, but I found this article and thought I would let you know they are using these sites. I hope they get shut down.